HOW IT ALL BEGAN.

It began with a table read in October of 2014. Writer-director Eric Ford Holevinski had just finished his script and gathered a team of friends and collaborators to form what would be the core cast and plan a campaign to raise the the budget. The next step was to shoot the opening scene of the film as proof-of-concept: this would be the centerpiece of a Kickstarter campaign.

In March of 2015, the cast hosted a gathering at the Anthology Film Archives in New York City to launch the Kickstarter. Equipped with the teaser, Eric outlined his expected budget and pitched the film to his first room: fittingly, a movie theater. After a roller coaster month, initial funding was secured and pre-production officially began.

The Restaurant was filmed entirely in New York City at several locations in Manhattan and Queens. The cast and crew spent most of a month in Astoria, shooting overnight and returning to work in the day. The schedule was brutal, but the team held together, in large part thanks to the support of executive producer Kris Maxx. With principal photography wrapped, we knew this was only the beginning.

In post the team spent months polishing the movie, ensuring it lived up to what the cast and crew had created on set. Needless to say, we’re extremely proud of the finished product.